Unchained Destiny
by Pokeprof
Summary: Beaten, defeated, and bound, the Azula has long sense fallen from her perch as a Ruler. But even now, even after all she's done, there is still some one that will actually go out of their way for her.


**-Unchained Destiny-**

It was made especially for her, the dark, gloomy cell that she had been given at the end of the war. The walls had been raised by Earthbenders, made thick and strong to ensure that no flame could ever melt it, not even one as intense as her own. Her chains, clamped so tightly about her wrists and ankles that it bruised and pinched the skin with an added collar about her neck, was created by her own people, also resistant to heat and fire.

_It's downright pitiful._ She thought to herself, letting her body simply hang limp, the tight restraints keeping her body spread eagled._ To think that you were once destined to rule as the Fire Lord, with all the power in the world, now reduced to a simpering mess of ragged clothes, bound so tightly that you can never be a danger to anyone. You're a disgrace, Azula._

Hatred and anger burned in her body in reaction to her own thoughts, the once proud fire princess turned wild, turning as much she could to the door her, the gate to her cage. If she couldn't be who she had strived and worked to be, Azula was going to make sure that anyone and everyone that tried to do anything to her would pay. She had done so before with every one of those commoners, trying to go into her cell to feed to deranged woman, only to have fire breathed at them, venom and rage mixed into the princess's face.

As the door slowly opened, Azula knew she'd have the opportunity to do so again. Maybe she'll be lucky and actually kill the person foolish enough to enter her domain, what little it was. The small revenge was ill-tasting one, but with such options to her, the woman would take what she could get.

"Azula, it's time to eat." Came a woman's voice, the slight clank of drink and food on a tray coming from behind the fire princess. Had she not been so filled with fury, she might have recognized the voice, found its owner locked away in one of her many memories. Yet Azula was blind, wanting only to strike back once more, denying her accursed brother for damming her to this shell of a life.

As the servant, for whom else would be given the job to feed a prisoner, drew closer, Azula began to thrash and scream, straining against her bonds though it pained her, trying to get at the girl that had dared tried to be there. But the other woman remained, not even the least off guard when the princess had begun. In fact, she came closer, enough so that Azula could easily burn off her face with a simple spit fire, something she planned to do.

The frenzied look on the woman's face, with gritted teeth and wild eyes, soon left as the identity of her visitor came to light. "T-ty lee?" She gasped, her voice hoarse from all of her screaming and lack of fluids.

The acrobat said nothing as she stood before her old friend, staring over her form. Azula had once been a beauty of power, a lithe form trained to the peak ability, dressed in the finest clothes that could be found and with a mind that could convince anyone, even her closest friends, into doing what she wanted. Now, all that remained was a starved, tattered clothed, broken prisoner, a husk of what she once was.

Of course, Ty Lee had also changed. Gone was her clothing of pink and frills, the garments she had worn during her circus days. In its place were the battle garments of the Kyoshi warriors, the deep green cloth and steel kimono she had once donned as a disguise. Her face, normally bare, was covered in the Kinships make up, ruby red lips against a white face, dark triangles about her eyes to give her the warriors look. As with Azula, it was more than just Ty Lees look that had changed. Her time with the warrior women had showed her a great deal about the world and herself, letting her learn ways of living so unlike and like her own. In all, it brought a new understand to the young woman, one that she hoped to share with Azula.

"What are you doing here?" Azula croaked out, unable to understand why Ty Lee, one of the very women that had betrayed her on the Boiling Rock, had come.

Not answering, Ty Lee turned and grasped a small teapot that she had carried in with her, pouring it into a cup, steam rising from it. Grasping it gingerly, the Kyoshi garbed woman lifted the drink to Azula, pushing it to her lips softly.

Resisting at first, Azula soon let the hot liquid run into her mouth and down her throat, almost crying out in pain from the burn in her ragged esophagus, but enjoying the taste and filling sensation of the tea to care. With the drink soon finished, Ty Lee brought bread to the prisoner's mouth, the woman not hesitating to catch it and eat, the soft fresh taste of it causing Azula to close her eyes in enjoyment.

"It's nice to see that soft smile again." Ty Lee said, placing everything back into the tray. "You wore it so little, even as a kid, when it made you look so pretty."

The remark came a bit of surprise to Azula, the fire princess not at all accustomed to a compliment that she hadn't threatened out of someone. Even more so out of Ty Lee, whom she had incarcerated on the Boiling rock after her betrayal to her. It confounded the prisoner why the newly adopted Kyoshi was even doing this, out of the blue with no explanation. It couldn't just be some act of random kindness, not after what she had done.

"I'll come to see you tomorrow." The Kyoshi said, bowing lightly to Azula before leaving, tray and all, leaving the deranged woman to her confusion alone in her dark cell.

*

Ty Lee was true to her word, returning the next day with a bit more food, this time including a ruby red apple along with a few grapes. With the warrior woman as her hands, Azula ate ravishingly, the fruits juices smearing against her face, elated at the heavenly taste of the food. The entire time, the turned Kyoshi simply made sure that every morsel of food she had would be consumed by the damned princess.

After Azula had finished her meal, Ty Lee took care to wipe the woman's face with a clean cloth. Had such an action took place only a few months ago, the Firebender would have shrugged it off as Ty Lee's touchy feely nature, but now, it just confused the deranged woman. Again, after the princess's own actions, why would the Kyoshi even want to see her, much less help her in any fashion.

"You've always had beautiful hair, you know." Ty Lee said, startling the chained female by the sound of voice, still so soft and sweet. "Here."

With a gentle touch, the warrior woman slowly started brushing Azula's hair, using a small brush she had with her, humming lightly as she went. Unable to move and unable to respond to such behavior, the princess just remained motionless, odd emotions swirling through her mind.

"They really shouldn't be so rough with you. A girl needs to pamper herself every once in a while." Ty Lee said, brushing the tangles in the hair lightly enough to break them and leave Azula unharmed.

With hair brushed and once more straight, the Kyoshi packed away her brush, standing before Azula with a soft smile. "There now, you look much better." She remained quiet for a moment more. "I'll be back tomorrow, alright?"

Without so much more as an answer, Ty Lee left the woman to her own devices, the forgotten princess still confused and dazed by her former friend's actions.

*

This continued on for nearly two months, Ty Lee appearing every day with food, the only thing that the fire bender would eat, and then she would comfort and talk with her, even when Azula refused to answer. It was only after the warrior woman had dressed her in new clothes and cleaned her of the grim and filth that had littered her body did the crazed princess finally speak since the Kyoshi had first visited her.

"I don't deserve this…" She croaked, her voice, despite healthier with the food, still restrained by the metallic brace and weak from lack of use. "This kindness you give, I don't deserve any of it."

"So?" Ty Lee replied, continuing to stroke and brush Azula's hair, admiring how its health glow had returned from the upkeep she had given it.

"So?!" The fire princess snapped, glaring back at the woman as best she could. "SO?!?! You should hate me, torture me, do everything in your power to make my life even more of a hell then what it is!" Azula's voice then went quiet, looking directly into Ty Lee's eyes. "Why haven't you?"

"Because…" Ty Lee said softly, removing herself from the other woman. She opened the cells door, a foot outside before she finished her thought. "I love you." With that, she left.

*

If there was anything Azula had been expecting that day, a decollation of love wasn't among them. Heck, she had often considered it a weak emotion that was better off ignored or even manipulated if it would help her succeed. Never would she had thought a genuine feeling of love be sent her way, much less by someone who had betrayed her.

Oh, some would say that her mother had loved her, and maybe she had. But Azula was her father's child, first and foremost. She was perfect in everything the Fire Lord desired in a child, intelligent, powerful, expert fire bending skills, ruthlessness, and the lack of need to depend on another. The only thing that prevented her from being absolutely perfect in her fathers eyes…no, in _everyone's_ eyes, was that she was female.

Of course, once she had surpassed that, once Azula had been named Fire Lord even despite her gender as her father became the Phoenix King in an attempt to rule all the four nations, she realized just what a delicate position it was. At any one time, those that she trusted, those that she cared for could turn on her. She had learned that from Mei and Ty Lee. It had been that along with her new position that conjured shadows of her mother's presence and eventually drove her mad.

And yet here, after all this time, Ty Lee returned to her side, tending to her, making sure that she was alright. It confused her even more then when she had been betrayed. And why? For love, it seemed. It didn't make any sense, none at all to Azula, that Ty Lee would have any warm feelings to her, much less an emotion as strong as love.

But every day, Ty Lee seemed true to her words, caring and tending to the princess. Sometimes she'd wash her, keeping her clean even when the cell wasn't even kept regularly. Others, she would brush Azula's hair, keeping it free of knots and tangles. On the rare occasion, Ty Lee would just sit before her, talking, allowing her to listen to the woman's voice, an actually voice that wanted her to hear and take comfort in the sound.

"Why?" Azula had asked again, staring at the Kyoshi, her eyes no longer hardened with hatred or clouded with madness. They remained filled with only confusion and longing, the need and desire to discover the reasons behind all this. "With all the things I've done? I've forced you from the one place you truly felt at home. I've forced you to fight like you were nothing more then a solider. And then I punished you for preventing me from harming my own kin. Why is it that you love me?"

"I've always have, Azula." Ty Lee smiled, gazing at the bound woman. "Even if you could be scary at times, even if you could be mean. There's no single reason, other then I've had these feelings as long as I can remember, and even if you change and become different from what you once were, from what I remember, I'll still love you."

It left Azula silent, what she said, causing her to think about the words. Had she really been so mistaken? She had always believed that it was better to be feared and respected then to be loved and adored. Now, it seemed that it was all wrong, that everything she had known was directly against what should have been and that her mother's words were true.

From that point on, Zaula didn't question the Kyoshi's presence, instead enjoying it. Though she couldn't change who she was in a day, Azula knew well that there was nothing she could do but spend time with Ty Lee when she game, taking what enjoyment she could from it. Very soon, it was all the princess looked forward too, all that she desired.

*

A year had passed since that first fateful day when Ty Lee, garbed as she was today in the likeness of a Kyoshi warrior, had entered the fire princess's cell, feed her starving body and started her constant vigil around her. The revelation of the woman's love for Azula had come shortly after. To her surprise, the imprisoned woman found herself feeling the same. There was something endearing about Ty Lee, something that made her more… real was the best way that she could think of explaining it. Little more mattered to her, even with her limbs still bound in chains.

It was then that something surprising had happened. The chain around Azula's right arm fell suddenly slack, the cold air biting into the marked purple skin that had be left unexposed for over a year sent shivers up her spine, bruised still despite the fire princess's lack of fighting against her bonds. Soon, the left hand joined the right, both free and instantly seeking each others comfort, having been separated for too long.

Before her, the reason for Azula's unanswered question stood, Ty Lee unlocking the collar about the princess's neck, the purple bruise just as visible there as it had been with her wrists. "What?" Azula asked, staring down at the Kyoshi, the woman undoing the chains about her feet.

"Don't ask." She replied, finishing the last buckle. Ty Lee stood, staring at her, tears welling only slightly in her eyes. "Just leave. Go and be free, away from this place and the Fire Nation, as far as you can."

Azula wasn't sure at all what to do, much less react to the sudden change of events. Before any of this, she would have run, perhaps calling Ty Lee a fool as she did. But now, nothing was the same. The old Azula, the one who would lie and cheat her way into the top, sacrificing anyone she deemed expendable. The new Azula instead closed the space between her and the woman she realized that she loved, kissing her softly.

"Come with me…"

*

The cheers of the circus goes filled the large tent with their happiness and surprise, watching the performances and spectaculars before them. With dancing MonkeyGoats and spinning Turtledidlos, each face, man, woman, and child, was alit with laughter. And the star of the show, bounding off from her high wire, bowed before them, soaking in their applause.

"You've really got to hand it to the Earth Kingdom. They can really throw a show when they want to." The performer's lover mentioned, pulling the woman into her arms as she left the center ring.

"Gives you a warm feeling inside, seeing them all like this, doesn't it, Azula?" the performer asked, nuzzling against the soft skin of her other, basking in both scent and heartbeat, savoring both.

"It does, Ty. But not as much as you do." Azula replied, holding Ty Lee tighter to her, escorting the one woman that meant so much to her, fully intending to enjoy that warmth she had mentioned for as long as she could, cherishing it forever.

**Author's notes: **Just a short, sweet little Tyzula fic, based on a picture done with the same name by Yogurth Frost over on deviant art. Guy's a great artist and has done a lot of really good stuff with same sex and opposite sex couples, so I highly suggest you check him out. Also, if you see this on DA as well under Elvensilver, that's me, so don't worry :D


End file.
